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The No Deal, or Walk Away, option is always there for both parties. Yes it is a last resort, but there are times when you cannot get a viable deal and walking away is the only way to go. It works best if you understand what the consequences are though.
In this example the company that I worked for had a contract with a client for a particular job to be performed on an ad-hoc basis. It worked well and the contract had been renewed several times, but the client had gone for a complete renewal proposal over about eighteen months and wanted to negotiate a deal for the job. As you might expect they were also looking at other contractors in case we had not the capacity for the job. Read more…

One of the things I talked about last time was avoiding painting yourself into a corner because you need to keep at least one exit route available to you: Once you are trapped you are going to have to take whatever the other side offers. But whilst you want to avoid boxing yourself in it is to your advantage to help the other side doing it to themselves. Read more…

One of the early lessons that I grasped in my management career was that you always needed to know what would happen if you did nothing. It may sound odd to an outsider, but a manager is always under pressure to do better and that requires change to some, or greater, degree and to do that you need to know what will happen if you do nothing.
When you go into a negotiation you also need be aware of what will happen if you fail to reach a deal. You will have your desired outcome, your concessions, your drop-dead option, your giveaways and your deal breakers and have a plan to work to. You will have all the intelligence that you can muster on the opposition and, once in the room, have your radar on as you probe and respond to their probes in return. Read more…

The Brexit negotiations rumble on and regardless of where you stand on the UK leaving the EU I wonder if you have given any thought to the practicalities of those who are handling the problem from either side for it is not like any negotiation that I have ever seen or taken part in. Read more…

“I love it when a plan comes together” Col Smith used to say at the end of each A-Team episode, almost as though it was a rare event when, having expended thousands of rounds of ammunition and several tons of explosives of the climax (without killing anyone) they had again triumphed. Read more…